Who Salted My Game?
Nov
10
Written by:
John Sciacca
11/10/2010 3:02 AM
To salt one's game: To publically insult or demean someone even if it's unintentional, especially when they're around someone they're trying to impress – Urban Dictionary
Big jobs are tough enough to come by these days, so when that supposed “sure thing” falls into your lap, it is a thrilling, soul-lifting, self-high-five-giving experience.
Last week I had what I thought was the closest thing to a locket in my pocket. A builder that we have done many large projects with called us. He was building a new house – a fairly big, single story 9,000-square footer right on the intercoastal waterway.
The house had a dedicated media room, and the customer was an ex-music industry exec that retired at 42. The house budget was just south of $2 million. (As in MM, the two big M’s. Like a bag full of M&M’s but instead of candy-covered chocolates they’re candy-covered diamonds.)
So I’m thinking, “big house in high-end neighborhood, with a dedicated media room, so definitely a cool home theater, a builder that knows our caliber of work, music industry guy so obviously music will be important, retired young – and presumably well-off – so he is probably into tech.”
So I dutifully arrived on time and while the homeowner was with the electrician I took a walk-thru and start jotting down areas on my clipboard, coming up with 22 separate areas of the home. Then I began mentally plunking in items – a touchpanel here, obviously audio throughout here, definitely lighting control, probably some kind of pool and HVAC control, perfect spot for a projector to fire through some port glass and get it out of the media room, etc.
Then I met with the homeowner, and right away he hits me with, “I just want to let you know right up front, I’m old school. I’ve built lots of houses, and the technology just doesn’t work. So I don’t want anything complicated.”
Uh… OK… So… I try to take it all in stride, and come back with a, “Sure. Of course. No problem,” figuring that I can gradually overcome his objections. So we start going through the house and room after room the customer is saying, “OK, one wire here for a TV and one wire here for a phone.”
“No audio in here?”
“No. No audio.”
“No distributed video or anything?”
“No. Not here.”
“Any kind of network connection for someone to connect a laptop or maybe to plan for some kind of streaming device at the TV?”
“No. Just the TV wire.”
When we arrive at the front door, I can see that there are four separate triple-gang wall boxes for controlling all of the exterior and entryway lights. FOUR! So I see this as the perfect opportunity to propose lighting control. “You see all of these switches here? We can totally clean up this wall clutter, and greatly simplify your lifestyle in such a large house, with some automated lighting. By replacing all of those wall boxes with a keypad you’d have a much more elegant look on your wall.”
“No. I’m just not interested.”
“Umm, OK. Can I ask why?”
“Look, I’m old fashioned. I just want a switch on the wall. I just want to be able to walk over and turn my damn lights on. I don’t want some pad that’s gonna break and then have to call someone in order to get my lights on.”
This continues with the guy – click-clack – Pull! – Ka-BLAM! – on virtually every bit of tech that I suggest.
Audio? In his 9,000-square-foot home he wants audio in just four rooms, and none by the pool. I actually told him that this would be the first high-end house that I’ve ever been involved with in my 13 years where we weren’t putting audio out for the swimming pool… or in the dining room… or the study… or the master bed and bath. Plus he wants nothing more complicated than a volume knob where we ARE putting audio.
I even had a heck of a time convincing him to splurge on a URC remote so he didn’t have to open his cabinetry to change TV channels or have five remotes or walk to some inconvenient location to adjust the volume. We had like a 10-minute discussion to convince him that, yes, the remote would actually work and that it would make WAY more sense to be able to control the system that way.
Then we finally get to the media room where I feel like I’m going to be able to at least close strong. It is a single-door, window-less room that is 15 feet wide by 24 feet long, with tiered seating. This thing is screaming front projector, except the customer is apparently in outer space, where no one can hear a projector scream.
“In here I want a flat-panel, something like a 55 to 60-inch,” he told me. When pressed, he claimed that he has never seen a projector that looked good. I begged him to come down to our store to check out our Runco Q, but he wasn’t having anything to do with it. “No. You’re just not gonna convince me,” he said. “I just want a big flat-panel.”
Want to know what the homeowner was into? Central vac. This was the only thing that got him any kind of excited. And, honestly, it’s probably the thing that I know the least about. Because, let’s be honest, central vac is rarely cool, sexy, or fun. You’ve got a pipe, you’ve got a port, and you’ve got a canister. I don’t know about HEPA filter ratings or custom hose lengths, but because this is really the only thing that he has any serious questions about – questions that I’m floundering on answering – and I can’t share all the other things that I am an export in, I come off looking like a newb.
From multiple comments it was clear that this guy has owned several homes that have had technology. Technology that has clearly been poorly installed and technology that hasn’t worked right, and technology that has now so thoroughly salted the field of this guy’s heart that no tech flowers will ever be able to grow again. So a big THANKS! to all you previous installers. Thanks for doing such a piss-poor job that you’ve totally alienated this customer from any possibility of having the kind of system that his home totally deserves.
It’s hard enough to sell someone that has never experienced technology before on the benefits of living with a technology, but it can be next to imfrickinpossible to un-brainwash someone that HAS had the technology and had it work so poorly that they’ve hated it.
Where do you go from there? “That other guy was retarded, but trust me, because I know what I’m doing”? Or “The other stuff you bought was junk, but the stuff that I’m gonna sell you will really work”?
So, what’s the solution? What do you do when you run into a client that has been salted – or ruined – by a previous integrator or poorly installed system?
8 comment(s) so far...
Who Salted My Game?
That is when you pull out your list of previous clients and let him call them. You would schedule a walk through of some of those jobs. Show rooms are good, but previous jobs and talking with clients says more than a mouthful!
By ddimaggio@3wgi.com on
11/12/2010 10:40 AM
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Who Salted My Game?
Hey John, met you at a THX class a couple years ago. I feel your pain. I usually fall back on prewiring to add value to the home. Then if the customer let's us, we do a inexpensive cat5/speaker wire prewire to TV's, speaker locations and potential KP locations. Usually if you can get that far, you can work up to actually putting in some technology down the road!
By ehedin1@nycap.rr.com on
11/13/2010 2:02 AM
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Who Salted My Game?
Boy if I had a nickel...
Big problem in our industry when so many integrators "trash" others or previous companies to make themselves look good...it's a very poor sales tool, seems that a lot of owners could use some sales 101 training.
2 possible solutions: first is provide a referral. "I know exactly what you mean, in fact I have a customer that was exactly the same as you, call him and he'll tell you what he thinks now"
Second is to make these suggestions: "Technology has changed, so your experience will be different". And "Would you be open to a demonstration?" Get a remote or iPad in his hands and let him drive.
We recently completed a $4 Million house (Chicago dollars); client installed $2,500 gold trimmed toilets, and asked me to connect his $29 boom box head-phone output for whole house AM/FM. These customers are out there and aren't going away.
By rob@alichicago.com on
11/12/2010 9:34 AM
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Who Salted My Game?
Boy if I had a nickel...
Big problem in our industry when so many integrators "trash" others or previous companies to make themselves look good...it's a very poor sales tool, seems that a lot of owners could use some sales 101 training.
2 possible solutions: first is provide a referral. "I know exactly what you mean, in fact I have a customer that was exactly the same as you, call him and he'll tell you what he thinks now"
Second is to make these suggestions: "Technology has changed, so your experience will be different". And "Would you be open to a demonstration?" Get a remote or iPad in his hands and let him drive.
We recently completed a $4 Million house (Chicago dollars); client installed $2,500 gold trimmed toilets, and asked me to connect his $29 boom box head-phone output for whole house AM/FM. These customers are out there and aren't going away.
By rob@alichicago.com on
11/12/2010 9:35 AM
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Who Salted My Game?
Wow......If one of my people tried to blame previous installers for your short comings they would be out on the street. You should of had this customer inside your establishment once the foundation was poured, (not after the electrician was already boxing) Why do you have a showroom if you are going to try and sell clients during the walk through. Look in the mirror, not at your competitors screw-ups.
By wavecrest@bresnan.net on
11/13/2010 7:37 AM
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Who Salted My Game?
Really connected to this article. It seems that we all have to work so much harder for every aspect of almost every sale. Also really appreciated the recent "rants" relating to a certain speaker manufacturer.Keep it coming.
By sctucker@gwi.net on
11/12/2010 11:48 AM
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Who Salted My Game?
John,
This has become a very common problem as our industry matures. There are several things that need to be communicated with this client.
1. I simply tell him that I'm sorry he did not have an Integrator who properly designed and installed his previous system, and that I would be happy to let him speak with a few of my clients who have similar systems and are delighted.
2. I offer to walk him through a few other projects comparable to his and see how well they work to restore his confidence (Although only two have ever taken me up on it in 15 years, but we closed both deals).
3. I explain that systems continue to become more reliable and robust as each generation is refined. The systems he will be purchasing for this home are different, and better, than his last ones. Manufacturers and Integrators alike have learned from (and listened to) clients just like him to make the current products enhance his lifestyle effortlessly, rather than serve as a source of aggravation.
4. Use words like simple, improved, dependable, enhanced, easier, trouble-free, less complicated, steadfast, intuitive, effortless, or whatever words flow from your vocabulary to convey this message.
5. Remember, you are the expert! This is a test. He looks for you to be confident and assertive, yet extremely courteous and respectful. You must politely insist that a home of this caliber deserves these systems and that they are considered standard features by those building similar homes. Not including them compromises the elegance, sophistication and efficiency of the residence (especially lighting control). If you don’t believe it, don’t say it, he will see right through you and it will only reinforce his doubts and objections.
6. As far as the projector issue, it depends how far you are willing to go to make the sale. Offer to meet him at the job site tomorrow evening for a demonstration. Temp in a projector, screen and Blu-Ray player to show him the quality. If nothing else, he’ll tell all his friends about your tenacity.
7. As the very last resort, depending on his personality (be careful with this one), I may graciously offer to let him speak with clients who felt the same way he does, and now regret their decision to not at least pre-wire for resale value. I have even gone as far as pre-wiring certain things at my own cost if I had a strong feeling I may sell them in the future. When the client saw this, they realized I was serious about the home needing it.
8. Last but not least, you can’t win em all. Different people respond to different techniques… or no technique at all. He may be asserting his dominance over you, the lowly AV guy who he’s been ripped off by before. He really does want this stuff if it worked, because he went for it before, but won’t be fooled twice. Sometimes, as much as it stings, it’s ok to just say thank you for considering us but our level of expertise is not really needed here.
That’s what works for me anyway.
Tom Miller
By thomaskmiller@yahoo.com on
11/12/2010 4:25 PM
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Who Salted My Game?
had plenty of those guys in the past. best thing in over-coming their hesitance and outright refusal to trust another tech gadget is to invite them into one of your showrooms, the one that's worthy of their potential budget. if the client is still unwilling to commit to an invitation, simply take them to lunch and insist on the o' "i bought lunch, atleast give me 10 minutes" on the rare occasion they still decline, well, decline in kind. simply suggest that you would be doing this client a disservice to all parties involved; client, builder and yourself, since all that is needed is an electrician and/or cable installer. wish them good luck and shake hands in exiting.
By slordax_omega@yahoo.com on
11/14/2010 1:46 PM
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